


Dart

by rudbeckia



Series: Random Worlds [30]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Millicent - Freeform, benarmie
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-17
Updated: 2017-10-17
Packaged: 2019-01-18 18:33:25
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,277
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12393765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rudbeckia/pseuds/rudbeckia
Summary: Sugardaddy!Hux is on a work trip and Ben is minding the house. What will he do when an uninvited visitor shows up and won’t leave?





	Dart

Ben opened the back door and a small, furred creature streaked through the gap between his ankles and darted across the kitchen, vanishing with an unholy wail into the hallway beyond. A thudding noise that receded up the staircase gave away the cat’s probable destination, and Ben sighed. It was the fourth time this week.

 

The first time was on Monday, after Armitage had gone to the airport to set off on another round of international flesh-pressing and dinners that he called _networking,_ exhorting Ben to follow his example and get to know colleagues above him at First Order Incorporated (or better still weasel his way into the confidences of other corporate lawyers at rival firms and feed them plausible lies). Ben had gone home to work on a report on some nitpicking legal aspect of First Order’s takeover of the failing _Imperial Exports_ to find a small, ginger cat sitting on the doorstep. He’d shooed it away and let himself in, and only later found it curled up on one of the kitchen chairs. He still had itchy tramline scratches on the back of his hand from the eviction.

On Tuesday, Ben went to the office. He dressed well in the dark suit Armitage had made to measure for him in anticipation of his new job, and picked up his laptop case and his document carrier. With a bag containing his lunch hanging from his teeth and his car keys in his hand, Ben kneed the door open and elbowed it shut. He came home late to find a familiar-looking, small, orange, stripey cat asleep on the sofa. When he yelled at it, it leapt to the top of the bookcase and refused to come down. It took Ben fifteen minutes to dislodge the cat from its perch and get it to the door, and twenty more to stop the bleeding.

Next day, Ben called in to say he would work remotely again because he was more productive away from the bustle of the office. He did not think it necessary to mention his swollen, hot flesh around where the cat had sunk four sharp teeth into the fat part of his hand below his left thumb. Nor did he mention the three hours he sat in the walk-in clinic waiting for a prescription for antibiotics after the swelling started to spread into his wrist and make gripping painful. The ache at every gear change meant he’d definitely suggest to Armitage that he should trade in the decades-old, stick-shift Micra for an automatic. When he got home, the cat stared at him from behind the shrub in one of the stone planters that Armitage was so proud of. Ben sighed at the soil kicked onto the step.  
“Oh you _didn’t._ You’re an _evil_ kitty.” Ben unlocked the front door and the cat hopped down, stretched and rubbed his shin with its head. Ben shook his foot at it. “Oh no, not after what you did! Don’t you dare— HEY!”

But the cat was already inside. Ben sighed. He went to the kitchen, took out a plate, opened a can of tuna and set the plate on the path outside the back door. As soon as the cat fell for the trick, Ben closed the door and locked it. Feeling slightly smug, he went to bed. Sleep was hard to find though. The cat had a big voice for its small size.

 

Ben had to get rid of the cat. Armitage would be home on Friday evening and he could _not_ come home to ginger fur on his soft furnishings and a faint whiff of pet-shop on the landing. Sighing, Ben finished taking out the trash and retrieved the licked-clean tuna plate. The cat watched him from an upstairs window. Ben glared at it, but it only blinked and looked away. His hand still hurt and the antibiotics upset his stomach. Indoors again, in a state of petulant misery, Ben looked up _lost and found pets_ and _why do cats hate me_  on the internet.

Both searches were futile. Ben gave up after twenty minutes, poured a glass of wine and put the TV on. He chose a film and settled down to watch. After about half an hour, his eyes were drawn to a shape in the doorway, a shadow with a fuzzy outline and pointed ears.  
“You don’t live here, kitty,” he said. “If I leave the door open will you just go home?”  
The cat took a step forward, then another, then padded slowly around the edge of the room. It disappeared under the sofa and Ben sighed.  
“I can’t haul you out of there,” he said, leaning over to peer into the darkness. “Can we call a truce?”  
There was, of course, no reply. Ben focused on the film and his second glass of wine, barely noticing when his eyes slipped shut.

When Ben woke it was with a comfortable sense of calm and a warm, solid weight leaning against his thigh. He yawned and the cat rumbled gently and rubbed its head on his arm. Ben scratched it between the ears and shook his head.  
“You have to go, kitty. Tomorrow, okay? You hungry?” The cat yawned, stretched and flopped down from the sofa. Ben followed it to the kitchen where it sat looking up at the empty tuna dish from before. Ben laughed.  
“Oh you are in no position to be making demands. You think you can just walk in here and have me do your evil bidding? I’m the human and I’m in charge.”

Ben set another plate of tuna on the floor and poured his third glass of wine. The cat settled down to eat, then joined Ben on the sofa again. He shuffled over to make more space for it to stretch out, and was rewarded with the faint scent of fish when the cat climbed up and bumped his face. When Ben went up to bed, the cat followed, scratching at closed doors until Ben opened them and, to Ben’s utter astonishment, sauntering into the bathroom and peeing in the toilet.

At midnight, Ben quit internet shopping for pet supplies, rolled over onto his belly in bed and Skyped Armitage as he usually did, catching him before he went to the airport to catch his flight home. Armitage looked tired, and Ben smiled.  
“Hey, sweetpea! You all checked in? Can’t wait to see you.”  
_”I can’t wait to be home. Make an appointment for a jacuzzi and chill some of the nice champagne! I’ve got big news and I want to tell you in person.”_  
“Oh? Okay! Um, eight o’clock tomorrow evening?”  
Ben felt the cat jump onto the bed and stand on his back. He wriggled and it moved, paws padding up his skin. Armitage loomed large as he moved closer and frowned at the screen.  
_”Ben, is that... what is that?”_  
“Oh?” Ben peered round at the cat’s face, meeting it nose-to-nose. “I guess there’s no hiding it. We have a cat now. It’s not my fault, I have a weakness for gingers and it was very persistent.”

Armitage looked so excited Ben thought he might explode.  
_”OH MY GOD! MILLIE! MILLICENT! WHERE DID YOU FIND HER! Ben, that’s MILLICENT! She’s been missing for over a YEAR!”_  
The ginger cat slid down from Ben’s shoulder and purred loudly at the screen. Armitage wiped at his eyes and laughed.  
_”Ben! Do NOT let that cat out of your sight. Spoil her rotten. Have you any idea how long it took to train her?”_  
Ben laughed and rubbed Millicent’s chin.  
“You know, I think I can guess.”


End file.
